Roxie, a service dog, is supposed to sniff out peanuts before Logan comes in contact with them, but the family says she hasn't been up to snuff.

"On a scale of 1 to 10, she wouldn't even be on the scale for a service dog," said Logan's mother, Judie.

The Gonzaleses want Angel Service Dogs, the Monument, Colorado, company from which they bought Roxie, to fix the problem. They also say they might sue.

In 2009, the family's community rallied around Logan, then 7, to help him raise $17,000 to travel to Colorado to buy Roxie from Angel Service Dogs. Roxie's meeting with the Gonzales family was featured on the Today show that November, according to the community newspaper Whidbey New-Times in Whidbey Island, Washington. About $12,500 paid for the dog and the rest went to travel expenses.

But Roxie can't focus on peanuts while in public, the family says. "She gets very distracted by what's going on around her and doesn't do her job," Logan says.

As a nonscientific test, a pound of peanuts was poured onto a picnic table while Logan played nearby. His mom encouraged the dog to find them, but Roxie walked right by. Then a bag of peanuts was placed right under Roxie's nose. She should have sat down as a signal alerting Logan to the allergen. Instead, she gave no reaction.

"We were told she would be able to pick up peanut residue on your fingers," said Judie Gonzales. "This is my son's life we're talking about."

The sweet dog that was supposed to make things better has been a bust for the family.

The Gonzaleses are not the only ones accusing Angel Service Dogs of wrongdoing. In a May report by KCNC-TV in Denver, the company's founder, Sherry Mers, defended Angel Dogs against an allegation by Beth Caudle of Colorado Springs that her company sold Caudle a poorly trained dog.

Calls and e-mails to Angel Service Dogs were not returned on Wednesday.

Kate Schreck, principal at Crescent Harbor Elementary in Oak Harbor, was working at the school in 2009 when Logan, then a student there, received his dog. She confirms Roxie performed poorly when the boy would bring her to school.

"To me she appeared to be in puppy mode," said Schreck. "She couldn't even find the jar of peanut butter we would use as a test for her in the classroom."

The family says Angel Service Dogs worked with them initially to better train Roxie. Company officials later said they would retrain the dog for an additional $2,500, according to the family. The Gonzaleses are not willing to pay.

"They need to make good on this," said Judie. "I just want my son to live as normal a life as possible."